Pass-happy Kyle Shanahan explains 49ers’ ‘err-raid’ attack

San Francisco 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard (3) scrambles against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) less

San Francisco 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard (3) scrambles against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose ... more

Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, Associated Press

Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, Associated Press

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San Francisco 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard (3) scrambles against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) less

San Francisco 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard (3) scrambles against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose ... more

Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, Associated Press

Pass-happy Kyle Shanahan explains 49ers’ ‘err-raid’ attack

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On Sunday, after the 49ers did not lead in their loss to Arizona, a staff member provided head coach Kyle Shanahan a stunning stat from his 0-9 season.

“They said we’ve also only had the ball for six plays this year while having the lead,” Shanahan said. “That’s hard for me to believe, but it’s the situation that we’ve been in.”

Believe it, Kyle. The 49ers have spent the vast majority of 2017 in a trail position: They have not led in seven games, ran their only six plays with a lead in an overtime loss at Arizona and have spent 29 minutes and 37 seconds with a lead in a season in which they’ve played more than 557 minutes.

Those numbers help explain why the head coach known as a genius play-caller has done something that doesn’t appear too intelligent. Shanahan has dialed up an NFL-high 40.7 pass attempts a game despite having one of the league’s most dreadful passing attacks.

Call it the err-raid offense: The 49ers rank last in touchdown passes (six), 31st in quarterback rating (69.1, ahead of only the Browns) and have allowed the second-most sacks (32) in the league.

Shanahan — who started Brian Hoyer, benched him in favor of still-learning C.J. Beathard, then released Hoyer when the team traded for Jimmy Garoppolo — acknowledged Monday he might have been too pass-heavy this season. Shanahan also noted that the 49ers, who have been outscored 123-44 in the first half, routinely have been in comeback mode.

“I definitely want to be more balanced,” Shanahan said. “I want us to win a game however we can do that. The way we’ve been doing it hasn’t been working. Hopefully, we can find a game that we can get out to some early leads and protect that a little bit more.”

The 49ers have passed on 61.3 percent of their plays this season. Last year, when Shanahan was the Falcons’ offensive coordinator, Atlanta attempted a pass on 54 percent of its plays. The Falcons, who had NFL MVP quarterback Matt Ryan, also ranked 26th in the league in pass attempts (33.6 per game).

A commitment to the run game can help set up play-action passes, which are a staple of Shanahan’s offense. With the Falcons, it helped that Shanahan often had a lead — and a dynamic backfield featuring Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, who had 227 and 118 carries, respectively, last year.

With the 49ers, Shanahan doesn’t have a one-two punch. Carlos Hyde (124 carries) has dominated the workload in a season in which undrafted rookie Matt Breida (43) and Raheem Mostert (six) have been the only other backs to see action. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk also has five carries.

So Shanahan has legitimate reasons for overseeing an out-of-whack offense. Still, his play-calling raised eyebrows in that 20-10 loss to Arizona on Sunday.

In a game that was relatively close — the 49ers did not trail by more than 11 points — Beathard attempted 51 passes in his third NFL start. That matched the ninth most in franchise history and was the most since Tim Rattay threw 57 in an overtime game in 2004.

In addition, Beathard took a pounding, absorbing five sacks and 16 hits, and the 49ers presumably were not eager to insert Garoppolo behind a beat-up line lacking Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Staley.

“If you would have told me after the game that we were in the 50s compared to ( 17 rushing attempts), I would say ‘How much did we get killed by?’” Shanahan said. “That’s definitely not the goal going in.”

What happened? Shanahan said the 49ers spent an inordinate amount of time in their two-minute offense. They had a hurry-up drive just before halftime and didn’t attempt a run during their four fourth-quarter drives when they trailed by 10 points.

Shanahan’s explanation goes only so far. Before the 49ers’ first two-minute drive late in the second quarter, Shanahan had called 17 passes and eight runs. The 49ers were averaging 4 yards per rush attempt, and Beathard had completed 5 of 14 passes for 102 yards and been dropped for three sacks.

Shanahan certainly has been forced to call countless passes this season, so maybe that explains his start: He stuck with his passing attack out of habit.

“I know it was extremely unusual that we had 28 passes called and four two-minute drives,” Shanahan said. “Never been a part of that before. … So I think that gets very skewed.”

Defensive back signed: The 49ers signed defensive back Antone Exum, 26, and placed tackle Garry Gilliam on injured reserve. Exum, a 2014 sixth-round pick of the Vikings, has made two starts in his career.